Pepper Design Blog

Getting Ready for House Guests

Tis the season for house guests – this time of the year can feel like a swinging door with family and friends coming in and out for Christmas parties, Thanksgiving dinners and long weekends. I love it.

It can be nice to have your home back after a few days of craziness, but it can be so fun and special to host out-of-towners. Board games, giant jig saw puzzles by the fire and early mornings sharing the newspaper – just a few things I love about family in town.

I was thinking about what I can pull together to help guests feel cozy and special: soft towels stacked and easy to find, fresh flowers on the dresser, scented candles (I cheat and light them about an hour before expecting guests so the house smells like the holidays), a basket of toiletries (I keep a basket ready with little hotel shampoos, soaps, razors, etc to make it easy for guests to hunt down what they have forgotten), a collection of teas by the bedstand (they can help themselves in the morning or afternoon), fresh reading material (paper backs or new magazines – not the three year old versions), an extra blanket for the night, several hangers and maybe even a couple of drawers to unpack, an alarm clock and lotion by the bed.

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BeSpoke shares a delicious recipe to have ready:

Pumpkin Coconut Chocolate Chip Muffins

2 cups pumpkin puree, 4 eggs beaten, 3/4 cup canola oil, 3/4 cup applesauce, 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1 cup coconut flakes, 1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, then spray muffin tin with nonstick oil. Whisk together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, applesauce and sugar until smooth. Combine all dry ingredients and add to pumpkin mixture. Fold in coconut flakes and chocolate chips. Pour batter into muffin tins, then bake 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool, then enjoy!

Oh delicious!

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We don’t have a guest room at the moment (with the nursery taking its place) so putting a few extra goodies together for guests is even more special (since they’ll be couchin’ or air mattressen’ it for a while). That very top image is beautiful inspiration for a future addition – ditto on the deliciousness for that too.

S’mores Mini Cupcake Skewers

What’s gooey, sticky and oh-so-delicious when paired with chocolate and graham crackers? Mmmmm, toasted marshmallows of course. We are getting ready to head out for our annual camping excursion with friends and these little bites (minus the sticky fingers because of the lollipop skewers – great idea) have me in the mood for a warm and toasty campfire.

Lisa over at With Style & Grace created these layered S’more Skewer Cupcakes for a contest at Pizzazzerie. Check out her post here for the full recipe. And just in case you enjoy this particular combination as much as I do… here is a bit more inspiration on the s’more front:

S’more ice cream, s’more cupcakes take two, s’more chocolate peanut butter dessert cups and s’more pops. Yum.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Lollipops

A girlfriend of mine recently threw an adorable 1st birthday party for her little girl. I debated for a while over what dessert I could help contribute… the end of summer called for something fresh & delicious, and my schedule for the day called for something easy & quick (I made the birthday girl’s first chocolate cake that morning – so my time crunch was tight!).

Chocolate dipped strawberries would be amazing – but where to find those beautiful big strawberries with the full stems (often the brand used for dipping) last minute? After digging through my cake decorating  box and coming across a bag of white lollipop sticks, I found the perfect solution.

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Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Pops

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Ingredients: strawberries, lollipop sticks (from your local craft store), foam for cooling, chocolate chips, 1 tb. butter per 12 oz bag of chocolate chips & rainbow nonpareils (round sprinkles)

1. Poke each lollipop stick through the stem end of your strawberries. When your entire batch is ready, pop them into the freezer to keep the sticks from loosening (an hour or so should do it).

2. Warm your chocolate chips and butter over a double broiler until melted (stirring constantly). Prepare your sprinkles by pouring into a small bowl (shallow enough for dipping).

3. Dip chilled strawberry lollipops into chocolate and immediately into sprinkles. Poke right side up into foam to harden. Refrigerate until ready to serve!

I’m working on DIY artwork for the bedroom now… it includes an old dresser mirror, cork and a vintage map. It’s a neat project! Stay tuned.